Cognitive load has to do with how much information you are trying to hold inside of your working memory at any given time. Information is filtered in working memory as a transient step before being encoded in short-term or long-term memory (or forgotten).

We're really just talking about attention. People have a finite capacity to pay attention, which is why it's difficult to manage two complicated tasks at once, such as texting and driving. The more attention that you are paying, the more that your working memory is being used. That makes it harder to learn or to solve puzzles. But, it also has substantial effects on decision-making. Here's a few ways that people made decisions differently when they were under high cognitive load and had to divide their attention:

The Extended Mind is a Portland-based research firm that applies behavioral science to increase user engagement in immersive technologies. Jessica Outlaw, the founder of The Extended Mind, is also a winner of the 2017 Oculus Launch Pad competition.